Sheet-feeding mechanism



Dec. 1924- 1,517,254

A. R. SCHOLIN SHEET FEEDING MECHANI SM Filed Feb. 12, 1920 5 Sheets-Sheet l WITNESS: INVENTOR.

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A. R. SCHOLIN SHEET FEEDING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 12, 1920 5' Sheets-Sheetf IN V EN TOR.

A TTORNEY S WITNESS:

Patented Dec. '2, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AXEL R. SCHOLIN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO AUTOMATIC WRAPPING MACHINE COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,

A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

SHEET-FEEDING MECHANISM.

Application filed February 12, 1920. Serial No. 358,282.

To 1/ whom it may concern:

lie it known that 1, Axial. R. SCHOLIN, a :il'iZill of the l 'nited States, residin at (hie-ago, in the county of Cook and tate of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sheet-Feeding Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

'lhis invention relates to mechanism for feeding sheets of paper or other thin material. and has for its object the provision of a device of the class mentionedwhich shall be of improved construction and operation.

The invention is exemplified in the combination and arrangement of parts shown in the accompanying drawings and described in the following specification, and it is more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings- Fig. 1 is an elevation showing one 8111- bodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an elevation looking from the right in Fig. 1;

l ig. 3 is an elevation looking from the left in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section substantially on line ftl of Fig. l;

l 5 is a vertical section substantially on line of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary elevation showing a detail of construction.

Mechanism embodying the present invention may be used for feeding sheets of paper or other thin material under various conditions where it is desirable to remove the sheets, one at a time, from a supply.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings the mechanism is shown as adapted for use in connection with a package wrapping machine, such as that shown in my co-pending application, Serial No. 257.222, filed October 7, 1918, and the present invention contains subject matter dirided from said application. It is to be understood, however, that the present invention is applicable to machines other than those such as are shown in the co-pending application referred to. I

A. stack or supply of sheets 10 of thin material, such as paper, is supported upon a platform 11 carried by a reciprocating bar or plunger 12. The plunger 12 may be properl v guided by any suitable mechanism, not shown in the drawings. A chain 13 is connected at 14 to the plunger 12 and supports the platform 11 with the sheets 10 carried thereby. The chain 13 extends upwardly over a sprocket wheel 15 journaled at 16 on the supporting frame-work of the machine and after passing over the sprocket wheel 15 the chain extends about a second sprocket wheel 17 mounted rigidly on' a shaft 18 and thence over an idler sprocket 19 and downwardly to a counter-weight 20, the counter-weight being sufficient to sub-- stantially balance the weight of the platform and attached parts. The shaft 18 carries a spur gear 21 to which it is rigidly secured and the gear 21 meshes with a pinion 22 fixed rigidly on a shaft 23. The end of the shaft 23 is provided with a hand crank 24 by which the gears 21 and 22 ma be rotated to raise the platform 11. X ratchet wheel 25 is secured to the shaft 23 and is provided with a spring-pressed holding dog 26 carried by a stud 27 and arranged to hold the ratchet wheel 25-against reverse movement under the influence of the weight of the paper sheets 10.

As the sheets of paper 10 are taken from the top of the stack it is desirable to automatically raise the platform 11 to maintain the top of the stack substantially at a constant level. For this purpose an automatic feeding dog 28 is provided which is operated by a reciprocating bar 29. The lower end of the bar 29 is pivotally connected with an arm 30, the arm being pivotally mounted at 31 onthe frame of the machine. A cam roll-er 32 is journaled on the arm in position to be engaged by a cam 33 secured to the main driving shaft 34. At each rotation of the driving shaft 34 the cam 33 engages the roller 32 and forces the arm 30 downwardly. The arm 30 is normally drawn upwardly by a rod 35 adjustably secured by lock nuts 36 to one end of a rocker lever 37'. The rocker lever 37 is rigidly secured to a shaft 38 journaled in the frame of the machine and has its opposite end connected to a rod 39 provided with a spring 40 which tends to resiliently turn the lever 37 in a counterclockwise direction about the shaft 38. It will be seen that the spring 10 resilient-1y raises the arm 30 to impart return movement to the operating dog 28 for the ratchet wheel 25 after each feeding movement of the pawl under the operation of the cam 33 and driving shaft 34. The amount of return movewill be seen that this contact between the end of the bar/11 and the top of the stack "of sheets 10 will limit the movement of the shaft 38 and the rocker lever 37 under the influence of the spring 40 and so will cor,- respondingly limit-the return movement of the operating dog 28. As long as the stack of sheets is high enough for the proper operation of the feedingmechanism to be described, the feeler bar 41 will prevent sufficient return permit engagement of the pawl with the next succeeding notch on the ratchet wheel 25. But when the top of the stack has been sufliciently lowered the downward movement of the feeler bar 41 after it has been raised by the cam 33 will be of sufficient amplitude to permit the pawl 28 to engage the next succeeding notch on the ratchet wheel 25, and when this occurs, the following operation of the'cam 33 will rotate the ratchet wheel 25 an amount corresponding to one of its teeth and consequently raise the supporting platform 11 with the paper sheets thereon and thus restore the level of the 1 upper face of the stack. The frequency with which .the upward movement of the stack will be produced will depend upon the size of the notches in the ratchet wheel 25, and these notches may be so proportioned to adapt the machine to any particular class of work for which it is intended. The critical level of the upper face of the stack of sheets 10 at which feeding takes place may be regulated by adjustment of the lock nuts 36 on the rod 35; The rocker lever 37 is provided with a sleeve 44 which slidably engages the rod 35 to permit the feeler bar 41 to be raised off the upper surface of the sheets 10 for a purpose to be dgscribed, and it isapparent that the rod 35 and the operating dog connected therewith will be drawn upwardly only when the feeler bar 11 drops a sufiicient amount to cause the sleeve 44 to engage the lower nut 36 and thus raise the rod before the lower end of the feeler bar engages the top of the paper stack.

The sheets are moved to the right from the top of the paper stack, as viewed in Fig. 4, by a contacting segment 46 having a roughened surface 47 of frictional material, such as rubber. Any number of these segments 46 may be provided, there being two shown in the embodiment of the invention illustrated. Each segment 46 is pivoted at 48 on a disc 49 secured to a shaft 50. The shaft 50 is continuously rotated by movement of the pawl 28 toa chain 51 driven by a sprocket wheel 52 secured to the main drive shaft 34. An idler 53 carried by an arm 5 1 adjustably supported on a stud 55 is provided for regulating the tension in the chain 51. The contacfi segment 46 is resiliently pressed outwardly by a spring 56 carried by a stud 57 on the disc 49 and arranged to bear against the inner face of the contact segment, as shown in Fig. 4. A slot 58 and a pin 59 are provided for limiting the outward movement of the segment. At each rotation of the shaft 50 the contact surface 47 engages the uppermost sheet on the stack of sheets 10 and is resiliently pressed against the upper face of the sheet by the spring 56 and so moves the sheet forwardly from the top of the stack.

During the forward movement of the sheet it is desirable to release it from the. pressure of the feeler bar 41 and for this purpose the shaft 38 is provided with a downwardly extending arm 60 having a cam roller 61 at its lower end arranged to engage a cam 62 on the shaft 50, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. The cam 62 is so positioned on the shaft 50 that it engages the roller 61 prior to the operation of the feeding segment 46 so that the shaft 38 is turned to lift the feeler bar 41 from contact with the sheets until the uppermost sheet has been moved from beneath the lower 3 end of the bar.

It sometimes happens that the sheets to be fed have a tendency to adhere to one another so that more than a single sheet might be moved from the stack at one operation unless provision is made to overcome this tendency of the sheets to stick together. In some cases the sheets to be fed are perforated and the perforations are made a large" number of sheets at one operation. This may produce burrs about the perforations which extend from one sheet into the perforation of the adjacent sheet. Under such conditions the tendency of the sheets to adhere to one another is greatly augmented and it is therefore necessary to provide special means to separate the sheets. For this purpose one or more reciprocating contact blocks 63 are provided and these blocks in the embodiment shown are carried by bars 64 pivotally mounted at 65 on the ends of rocker arms 66 secured to an oscillating shaft 67. The shaft 67, as shown in F 'ig. 2, has a crank arm 68 pivoted at 69 to a pitman 70 connected with a disc 71 on the shaft 50. The rotation of the shaft 50 therefore impartsan oscillatory movement to the shaft 67 and consequently to the rocker arm 66 and the contact block Each contact block 63 is provided with a guide or slideway 72 which engages a projecting member 73 carried by the block 6 The guide 72 is inclined, to bring the block 63 into engagement with the uppermost sheet as the block moves rearwardly and to lift the block off the top of the stack when it approaches its forward position. The block 63 is resiliently pressed downwardly upon the top of the stack when in the rear portion of its movement by a contact plate 74 pivoted at 75 to an upright 76 and arranged to engage the projecting member 3 secured tothe contact block. The plate 74 carries an upwardly extending rod 77 which passes through a guide 7 8 on the upright 76. A coil spring 7 9 surrounds the rod '77 and forces the plate 74: resiliently into engagement with the projection 7 3 on the block 63. The tension in the spring 79 may be regulatedby a thumb screw 80 threaded into the guide 78. The block 63 is made up of some frictional material such as rubber, and when brought into contact with the. uppermost sheet of the stack during its rearward movement it will slide the sheet rearwardly on the top of the stack, as shown in Fig. 5, and thus separate the uppermost sheet from the one immediately beneath it and at the same time draw the front edge of the sheet backwardly away from the front of the stack.

Adjacent the front of the stack a guide member 81 is pivotally mounted at 82 and is provided with stop fingers 83 that extend downwardly into position to engage the front edge of the uppermost sheets on the stack. A series of pointed tines 84 are secured to the guide, member 81 in spaced relation along the front edge of the stack and the tines 84 are resiliently pressed into engagement with the top of the stack by springs 85 surrounding threaded rods'86 se cured to the guidemember 81, the rodsbeing provided with nuts 87 for regulating the tension of the springs 85. The tines 84 have a tendency to pierce the uppermost sheets of the stack and so prevent rearward movement of more than a single sheet under the influence of the contact block 63. The front edge of the uppermost'sheet is drawn to a position in the rear of the tines 84 by the block 63, and when the block is returned to its forward position and raised above the surface of the stack, the uppermost sheet which has been loosened from those below has a tendency to straighten out and thus cause the front edge of the sheet to slide upwardly along the upper face of the tines 84.- This is the position of the sheet when it is engaged by the feeding segment 46 and moved forwardly from the surface of the stack. During the forward movement of the uppermost sheet, those immediately beneath it are held in position by the stop finger 83 and also by a spring 88 which bears on the upper face of the stack adjacent the rear edge thereof and which is provided with a screw 89 for adjusting the pressure exerted thereby upon the sheets.

As the sheets pass from the guides 81 they are received between a series of discs 90 and 91 carried by shafts 92 and 93, respectively. The lower shaft 93 is mounted in fixed bearings in the machine frame, while the upper shaft 92 is carried by movable bearings which may be adjusted toward and from the fixed shaft 93 byscrews 94;. As shown in Fig. 6, the peripheries of the rollers 91 are provided with grooves 95, while the peripheries of the rollers 90 are provided with ribs 96 which register with the grooves 95, butthe rollers are spaced apart a sufiicient distance to provide spaces between -their peripheries of a thickness somewhat greater than the thickness of the sheets being fed.

The rollers 90 are provided with shoulders 97 at each side of the ribs 96, and the rollers 91 are provided with corresponding shoulders 98 at each of in position to register with shoulders 97. It will be apparent that as the sheets pass between the rollers 90 and 91 the ribs 96 and grooves 95 will tend to form temporary corrugations in the sheets and thus, because of the resiliency of the material of which the sheets are made, a firm grip will be secured upon the sheets. This gripping action is practically independent of any variation in the thicknesses of the sheets and avoids the necessity of the exact adjustment of the feed rollers relative to one another to correspond to various thicknesses of material. From the rollers 90 and 91 the sheets are received by a second set of rollers 99 and 100 which are similar to the rollers 90 and 91 and which discharge the sheets into a receptacle 101 where they are further treated by mechanism not a part of the present invention. The rollers 99 and 100 are mounted respectively on shafts 102 and 103, and'the shafts 92 and 103 are rotated by a sprocket chain 104 which is driven by a sprocket wheel 105 carried on the end of the shaft 50, as shown in Fig. 3. The shafts 93 and 102 are driven from the shafts 92 and 103 by spur gears 106, as shown in Fig. 2.

I claim 1. Sheet-feeding mechanism comprising a support for a stack of sheets, an arm pivotally supported adjacent the upper face of said stack and having a frictional contact member thereon arranged to swing about said pivotal support toward and away from the face of said stack, means for reciprocating said pivotal support to move said con tact member along the face of said stack, means for guiding said contact member into engagement with the uppermost sheet on said stack as said contact member is moved in one direction along said face, and a spring-pressed device for holding said-contact member in resilient engagement with the uppermost sheet of said stack, said guiding the grooves the i means being arranged to withdraw said contact member from engagement with said sheet during the return movement thereof.

2. Sheet-feeding mechanism comprising an adjustable support for a stack of sheets, a pointed holder for engaging the upper face of said stack adjacent one edge of the sheets therein, an abutment member for the edge of said sheets adjacent said holder,

resilient means for pressing said holder into contact with the uppermost sheet on said stack, an abutment member for theedge of said sheets opposite said holder, a frictional contact member for engaging the upper face of the uppermost sheet in said stack, means for reciprocating said contact member in the direction of the upper face of said stack,

m'e'ans for guiding said contact member into and out of engagement with the uppermost .sheet of said stack during said reciprocating movement, resilient means for holding "said contact member in engagement with said sheet during a period of said movement to cause said contact member to slide said sheet along the face of said stack away from said pointed holder to withdraw the edge of said sheet from contact with said pointed holder and to cause said sheet to buckle, a rotary contact member for engaging said sheet after the withdrawal of the edge thereof from said holder and for feeding said sheet from said stack, resilient means for pressing said rotary contact member into engagement with said sheet during the feeding operation thereof, and a resilient member for engaging the upper face of said stack atjthe edge thereof opposite said pointed holder.

3. Mechanism for feeding sheets from a stack comprising a rotary member having a contact shoe pivotally mounted thereon adjacent the forward portion of said shoe,

said shoe having an arc-shaped frictional contact surface, and a connection between said rotary member and the rear portion of said shoe, said connection permitting limited pivotal movement of said shoe toward said stack about the pivotal connection of said shoe with said rotary member.

4. Sheet-feeding mechanism comprising a pair of oppositely acting friction members for engaging the uppermost sheetin a stack,

an abutment member at one side of said stack comprising a pivoted finger having an abutment portion arranged adjacent the edges of the uppermost sheet in said stack and having a pointed resilient finger for engaging the upper face of the uppermost tional device into engagement with said.

Stack when said'link is moved in the opposite direction, pressure on said spring-pressed guide.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this-specification on this 9th day of,

February, A. D. 1920.

v AXEL R. SCHOLIN.

and means for adjusting the i 

